Man gunned down in Southlake has ties to Mexican cartel, investigator says...Dallas Morning News
Molly Molloy
Man gunned down in Southlake has ties to Mexican cartel, investigator says
By ALFREDO CORCHADO and MONIQUE O. MADAN
Staff Writers
Published: 23 May 2013 10:39 PM
Updated: 23 May 2013 10:45 PM
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SOUTHLAKE — A 43-year-old man who was apparently targeted in a fatal drive-by shooting in the Town Square on Wednesday evening was a longtime Mexican cartel attorney who had been living in Southlake, according to authorities.
Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa, a native of Mexico and father of three teenagers, was shopping with his wife Wednesday evening in the hour before he was shot numerous times while sitting in the front passenger seat of his car.
Southlake Police Chief Steve Mylett said during a news conference that he could not confirm that Guerrero Chapa had worked for a Mexican drug cartel. But according to a U.S. investigator, Guerrero Chapa was the longtime attorney for the Gulf cartel, based across the border from McAllen.
Specifically, the investigator said, Guerrero Chapa was the personal attorney to cartel leader Osiel Cardenas, who is serving a 25-year sentence in the United States for drug trafficking, money laundering and other charges.
Known as “El Licenciado Chapa,” Guerrero Chapa practiced law in Monterrey, in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon, bordering Texas, and had a presence in McAllen and Hidalgo, said the investigator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Guerrero Chapa had served as a lawyer for the Gulf cartel at a time when its leader, Cardenas, had founded the paramilitary group known as the Zetas. The two cartels have since split and are bitter rivals. Both have a deep presence in North Texas, known for its distribution routes and vast drug consumer market.
‘Key player’ in cartel
The U.S. investigator said it remains unclear why Guerrero Chapa was killed, “but he was a key player in the Gulf cartel organization. That much is clear.”
Southlake police said Guerrero Chapa is believed to have been living in Southlake for two years and was here legally.
The fatal shooting took just seconds, the chief said.
Guerrero Chapa’s wife was loading packages into the back seat of their car on the driver’s side when a man stepped out of a rear door of a vehicle driving slowly behind them and fired multiple shots. The masked gunman got back into the vehicle, and it drove away. Police doubt the killers are still in the area.
The shooting was captured on security video, but Mylett said the footage won’t be released. Nine shell casings were found at the scene, but it was unclear how many shots hit Guerrero Chapa. He died at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine.
“Obviously, the nature of this homicide — the way that it was carried out — indicates an organization that is trained to do this type of activity,” Mylett said. “When you’re dealing with individuals that operate on such a professional level, certainly caution forces me to have to lean toward that this is an organized criminal act.”
The chief said Guerrero Chapa’s wife is under round-the-clock protection. “We will continue to do so until the threat has passed,” Mylett said.
Numerous agencies are assisting in the investigation, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
Guerrero Chapa’s most prominent client, Cardenas, was arrested by Mexican authorities in 1999 after a standoff with U.S. law enforcement officials. He was held for a time at the federal high-security prison La Palma in Mexico.
Guerrero Chapa served as what’s commonly known in Mexico as el correo — the mail — delivering communications between Cardenas and the rest of the Gulf cartel, according to author and journalist Ricardo Ravelo of Proceso magazine.
The cartel has long been known for its army of lawyers, who didn’t just provide legal counsel but were actual members of the organization, Ravelo has written. Guerrero Chapa was once detained by the Mexican attorney general’s office but was released for lack of evidence.
Guerrero Chapa owned ranch properties in the state of Guanajuato, according to his Twitter account, which stated that he “raises a variety of animals on his ranch in Leon, Mexico, including pigs, horses, chickens, and bulls. He enjoys playing soccer.”
Rancher, soccer fan
According to his LinkedIn account, Guerreo Chapa raised Charolais bulls from France and was a “die-hard” fan of the soccer team in the Guanajuato city of Leon. His LinkedIn profile says:
“Guerrero Chapa enjoys the regional flavors of the restaurants in his hometown, and he often donates cows and calves to be prepared by Mexican chefs. León, Mexico’s sixth most populous city, maintains an integrated system of bicycle lanes traversing its urban center. The city enjoys a strong reputation for fine leather products such as boots, belts, jackets, and accessories.”
The car in which Guerrero Chapa was shot is tied to a man with the same last name whose mailing address is listed as a post office box in Plano. That man is an official at a Mission-based company and at a salvage company in McAllen, as was Guerrero Chapa, according to public records.
The slaying was an extremely rare act of violence for Southlake, a wealthy city of 27,000 people in northeast Tarrant and southern Denton counties. The last homicide in the city was reported in 1999.
A recent Dallas Morning News data analysis identifying the area’s best suburban neighborhoods ranked Southlake No. 1. Among the reasons were low crime, rising home values, first-rate schools and pet-friendliness.
“This could have happened in any community anywhere in Texas or anywhere else,” the Southlake police chief said. “This will continue to be a safe community, and we will do everything in our power to make sure that we bring those responsible to justice.”
On Thursday afternoon, the Town Square was peaceful.
Decorative water fountains adorn the center of a small pond area. Cascading water with lily pads and neatly trimmed bushes surround the meadow’s magenta-budding trees.
A park bench sits just feet away.
“Just to think that someone was killed right here, where my kids play, shakes me,” said Alex Mena, 42, of Grapevine, who said he has been shopping at the square for years.
“This is supposed to be a nice place,” Mena said. “No bloodshed.”
Thursday morning, there were no signs a murder had been committed.
Shoppers strolled the brick sidewalk with family and friends. All stores remained open.
Employees of nearby businesses said Wednesday night’s shooting had come as a total surprise.
“Never thought anything like this happened in pretty parking lots,” Jessica Griffith said. “Sad, sad day for a family.”
Staff writers Scott Goldstein, Ed Timms and Kevin Krause contributed to this report.
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Gulf Cartel Attorney Gunned Down in Southlake, Texas
Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 
Borderland Beat Reporter Havana Pura
The 43-year-old is believed to have been a lawyer for the notoriously violent Gulf
Proceso adds:
In his book Los Narcoabogados, reporter Ricardo Ravelo described Guerrero Chapa:
Molly Molloy
Attorney’s killing in Southlake was probably over money, investigator says
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By ALFREDO CORCHADO
Mexico Bureau
Published: 25 May 2013 10:15 PM
Updated: 25 May 2013 10:15 PM
MEXICO CITY — A Mexican cartel probably ordered the killing of attorney Juan Jesús Guerrero Chapa, a resident of Southlake, because of “disputes over money and personal differences,” according to a U.S. investigator.
The investigator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Beltrán Leyva cartel probably ordered the hit on Guerrero Chapa, who was killed Wednesday evening as he sat in his vehicle at Southlake Town Square. The investigator, citing intelligence gathered, said the attorney was killed “over reasons of money and because he wasn’t meeting his obligations.”
The Beltrán Leyva organization is closely allied with the paramilitary group known as the Zetas. The hit would have had to be “sanctioned and coordinated by the Zetas because North Texas” is part of their territory, the investigator said.
Guerrero Chapa “remained active in cartel-related activities,” said the investigator, who has monitored drug cartels for decades.
A statement released Friday by Southlake Police Chief Steve Mylett said the department had assembled an investigative team and set up an investigation command center that includes representatives from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Texas Rangers and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In the prepared statement, Mylett said Southlake police had received several tips but cautioned that the investigation will be slow and arduous.
“We are not going to sacrifice quality for speed,” he said. “This is an ongoing investigation, and ultimately our goal is to track down and arrest the person who pulled the trigger along with any other individuals involved in this homicide.”
This type of targeted killing, while all too common across Mexico, is unusual but not unheard of in places like Southlake, said Tony Garza, a Texas native and former U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
“We’ve seen these sorts of things in other parts of the state,” said Garza who now serves as counsel in the Mexico City office of White & Case. “So, while disturbing, it’s not altogether a surprise, and the bottom line … occasionally scores will be settled” on U.S. soil.
Guerrero Chapa, a 43-year-old father of three teenagers, was targeted in a drive-by shooting at Southlake Town Square as he and his wife were preparing to leave. Video shows a white SUV pulling up. A gunman shot Guerrero Chapa several times as he sat in the passenger seat. His wife was not hurt.
The Beltrán Leyva cartel was once part of an alliance known as the Sinaloa Federation, regarded as Mexico’s largest and most powerful crime group. The Beltrán Leyva cartel was founded by four brothers — Marcos Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo and Hector. They are from the state of Sinaloa and over the years have made billions from illicit activities such as cocaine smuggling and marijuana production.
In the late 2000s, the group split with the Sinaloa cartel, reportedly over differences with that group’s leader, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and formed alliances with the Zetas to share territory along the Texas-Mexico border.
According to the U.S. investigator, Guerrero Chapa once served as one of the key attorneys to Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, who led the Gulf cartel and is now in a U.S. prison. The attorney owned properties in the state of Guanajuato and also was involved in casinos in Monterrey and along the Texas-Mexico border.
The investigator said the attorney also worked with “rival cartels, and that could have done him in. Money is always a big motivator.”